Lies and Deceit Quotes in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

How we cite our quotes:

Quote #7

And I said, "I have been out." This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth. (79.3)

If you ask us, Christopher has a pretty narrow definition of lying. (We can break it down like this: adding things – or exaggerating – is lying, and is not okay. But taking things away – omitting things – is not lying, and is okay.) And, hey, even by his own definition, he might not be lying, but he certainly isn't telling the truth.

Quote #8

And I said "Yes," because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and Father [...] always tells me the truth, which means that he loves me. (137.10)

This remark goes far in expressing just what a betrayal it is for Christopher's father to have lied about his mother's death. For Christopher, truth = love. Without truth, there cannot be love.

Quote #9

Then he said, "I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie." (157.39)

Three very fraught sentences here. In the first, he claims that the lie was intentional, to protect Christopher from harm. In the third, he claims that the lie was unintentional. And nestled in between, the delightfully damaged word "Honestly" – as if anything this person says can be trusted now.